The first and second starters are all out, but is KT's 6th starter conscious of Ponce? What's the answer to the question?
Jul 17, 2025
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Finally, the KBO League, which has finished its break, will enter the second half of the year. Starting on the 17th, the team will start a four-game series at five stadiums nationwide.
KT Wiz accepted the burdensome schedule. It's a home game, and the opponent is Hanwha Eagles. Kang's team won six consecutive games at the end of the first half and secured the first place in the first half in 33 years. Since it is a schedule that comes out after a good rest, top-order starters will appear one after another, starting with ace Ponce. From the other team's point of view, it is inevitably burdensome.
Usually, after the All-Star break, each team dispatches an ace, and teams with circumstances send second-time issued players. It's because the player who throws well has to throw once more. All eight teams are foreign pitchers, but only KT and LG Twins are Bae Je-sung and Son Joo-young.
Son Joo-young is a domestic player, but she was a second starter, and Bae Je-sung is actually '6 starter', who just joined the starting rotation after being discharged from the military. But why did manager Lee Kang-chul put an exclusion against Hanwha Ponce. Is it a strategy to relax a little and aim for the rest of the game with Ponce, who boasts an overwhelming performance of 11 wins and no losses. Or was it a paving stone for the back-and-forth rain forecast.
Coach Lee, who met ahead of the game, teased "Isn't Bae Je-seong our first starter?" Then, he seriously considered that Je-sung's pitch was good, and that he rested the longest after pitching against SSG Landers on the 8th. In the case of Ko Young-pyo, 111 pitches were thrown against SSG on the 10th, so he decided to give enough rest days. Cho Hyung-joon also made a schedule to start over the maximum period of time, he said. In the case of Cho Hyung-joon, he needs to take care of himself because this is the first full-time season after undergoing elbow surgery.
This was not the only reason. Manager Lee also considered taking the mound in the next game depending on the opponent's match. "As I set the schedule for each pitcher so that I could throw it to the game against a team that can perform well and a strong team, the exclusion was the first to go in."
When asked if he was conscious of Ponce, director Lee laughed, saying, "That's not true at all."
Meanwhile, Patrick, a newly joined foreign pitcher, was registered in the first team on the day. He can also take the mound against Hanwha right away. Manager Lee said, `It's a waste, so I won't use it for the game. Looking at the situation, I'm thinking of throwing about 30 pitches for the first time" he said.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
